Gold Coast Film Festival Takes Two Flagship Events Online This Year

Following the cancellation of its 12-day annual festival due to the COVID-19 crisis, Gold Coast Film Festival has announced two of its flagship events will be hosted online this year.

Short film festival SIPFest, which is usually a beachside event, and the Screen Industry Gala Awards will both take place online.

This year’s SIPFest will showcase 13 diverse short films from April 9-14, with viewers able to vote online for the highly-coveted People’s Choice Award, the winner of which will receive a $1,000 prize.

Following SIPFest, the Screen Industry Gala Awards will be live-streamed from 6:30pm on April 16 with $20,000 in cash and prizes awarded to filmmakers across the event which celebrates the best short films, webseries, feature films and more.

“While we were heartbroken the festival was cancelled after it had already been curated and announced, we were more devastated for the filmmakers,” Gold Coast Film Festival CEO/Festival Director Lucy Fisher said.

“Filmmakers have poured so much of their talent, money and time into their films – sometimes over years – and it is a such a loss to not have the opportunity to screen or premiere now.

“We have worked to find the best way to support filmmakers and we are so grateful to our prize sponsors who have still committed to cash and prizes for this event. I’m sure the prizes will come at a vital time for many in the screen industry right now.

“Hopefully, we can all join together for one night and celebrate the winners in this difficult time and support Australian short films by watching SIPFest for free.”

For more details, head to the Gold Coast Film Festival website.